Measuring device for fabric finishing machines



F. J. COUCH 2,348,330 MEASURING DEVICE FOR FA BRIC FINISHING MACHINESFiled Jan. 22, 1945 INVENTOR FORREST J COUCH BY r 74 4& ATTORNEYSPatented May 9, 1944 MEASURING DEVICE FOR FABRIC FINISHING MACHINESForrest J. Couch, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The American LaundryMachinery Company, Norwood, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio ApplicationJanuary 22, 1943, Serial No. 473,195

10 Claims. ((1223-57) This invention relates to improvements in fabricpressing or finishing machines wherein means is provided for introducingan article to be pressed lengthwise between coacting pressing membersand wherein improved means responsive to the length or conformation orother physical characteristic of the article initiates the relativeapproach pressing movement of the pressing members.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pressing machinewherein articles of varying length may be introduced between thepressing members together with means for ausing the pressing members toclose when the article has been introduced for its full length.

Among the specific applications of my invention is the embodiment shownwherein means is provided for introducing shirt sleeves of varyinglength between pressing members adapted to iron or finish the sleevesand wherein the pressing members are arranged to close responsive to acontrol member striking the shoulder seam of the shirt after when thesleeve has been fully introduced into pressing position between thepressing members.

Other objects and advantages of my improved mechanism, includingsafeguarding devices, will be better understood from the accompanyingspecification and drawing, and the essential features thereof will beset forth in the attached claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a rear elevational view of a sleeve ironing machine embodyingmy invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmental sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmental side elevational view looking in the direction ofthe arrows 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmental sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig.1; while Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical circuits. 7

As stated above, my invention is applicable to any machine wherein, bymovement generally parallel to their pressing surfaces, an article to bepressed is introduced between pressing members which thereafter areclosed to press or iron the article worked upon. Such an article neednot be tubular nor need the relative movement of the pressing members bein a vertical direction.

However, in order to clearly understandmy invention, I have illustratedthe same as applied to a sleeve ironing operation wherein relativevertical movement is utilized} to place the sleeves in pressing positionbetween the coacting pressing members for a pressing or ironingoperation.

In the embodiment here disclosed, upon a base Ii] is mounted a frame llcomprising two side members I la and a central member I lb which arerigidly tied together at the top of the frame by the brackets l2 and |2aand the bar connections l3 and [3a. Since means is provided for ironingthe two sleeves of a single shirt simultaneously, the mechanism forironing one sleeve will be described, it being understood that the othermechanism is exactly like it except that the reference characters havebeen given the sufiix a. Referring now to the left hand set of membersin r Fig. 1, a stationary outer pressing chest member I4 is supported infixed relation to the frame I! by the brackets l5. A movable outerpressing chest [6 is mounted in the bracket [2 for movement toward andaway from the chest M. This mounting comprises a cylinder l1 rigidlyfixed to the bracket 12' and housing a piston l8 whose piston rod 19 isrigidly connected to the chest IS. A spring 20 engages between thebracket [2 and a collar 2| on the piston rod to normally bias the chestl6 away from the chest Id. The chest I6 is properly guided during thismovement by a post 22 rigid with chest 16 and slidably mounted in an armof the bracket I2. Movement of the chest l6 toward the chest [4 for apressing operation is provided by pressure fluid supplied to cylinder [1by means of conduit 23. Conduits 23 and 23a (the like conduits supplyingcylinder Ha) receive a pressure fluid supply, such as compressed air,through supply line 24, valve 25, and conduit 26. The valve 25 as bestseen in Fig. 5 is controlled by a solenoid coil 21 which is energized bya suitable source of power through electrical lines 28 and 29. In line28 are switches 30 and 3|, which will be later described, forcontrolling the initiation of a pressing operation and a manuallyoperable switch 32 used for terminating a pressing operation.

Means is provided for supporting the two sleeves of a shirt for movementendwise into pressing relation with the respective pairs of pressingmembers or chests l4, l6 and Maflfia. As here shown, this means consistsof twoinner pressing members in' the form of work supporting bucks 33and 33, each mounted on a swinging frame such as that shown at 34,whichis pivotally mounted at 35' on a slidingframe 36 mounted forvertical movement on the frame member Mb. The two opposite faces ofeachinner pressing -member or work supporting'buck cooperaterespectively with the two outer pressing members sleeve on the form 33a.

between which it lies when the press is closed. Part of the frame 34 maybe constructed as a table 31 to aid in holding the body of the shirt andthis table may be utilized to raise and lower the frame 36 manually, ora special handle might be provided for this purpose, or, as will bereadily understood, it could be accomplished by power means. The frame34 is biased toward its outermost position by a spring 38 and thismovement is limited by a lug 39 which engages a portion of frame 36 toprevent the buck 33 from moving out of endwise registration with theopening between the chests l4 and Hi. the bucks may be counterbalanced,if desired, by a weight 40 connected by a cable 4| with the movableframe at the point 42. This cable is guided by pulleys 43 and 44 on theframe I I. A tube 45 may be provided to house the weight 43 if desired.

It will be understood that sleeves of varying length are pressed in thismachine and it is desirable that the approach pressing movement of theouter pressing members or chests l4 and I6 toward the inner pressingmember 33 should ocour only when the sleeve is completely enveloped bythe chests. It is also desirable that the ironing chests shall not ironthe body of the shirt beyond the shoulder seams where the sleeves jointhe body. To this end a control means is provided which insures that asleeve on inner pressing member 33 is entered 'for its full lengthbetween the chests I 4 and It before those chests close upon it for anironing or pressing operation. This means as here shown comprises afinger 46 which is adapted to move into and out of engagement with asleeve on one of the bucks, such as that illustrated at 41 in Fig. 3.The finger is mounted for this movement on a block 43 which is slidablymounted for vertical movement on a pair of rods 49 and 50 which arerigidly mounted in a carriage 3 l This carriage is in turn mounted forhorizontal movement toward and away from the buck 3311 so as to providethe movement of finger 46 illustrated by the dotdash position of'Fig.'2. This carriage is mounted by, suspending'an ar n thereof 52' by meansof pivoted links and 54 which are carried by a bracket-55 which in turnis rigidly mounted by the bar .55 on the main frame N. Thi is aparallel'rul'er arrangement which maintains the verticalalin'em'ent offrame 51 as it is moved back and forth.

Means is provided to move the carriage in 'a horizontal direction towardthe right as viewed iii Fig. 1 to carrytne finger 46 from the full lineposition of Fig. 2 to the dot-dash line thereof which places the finger46 in engagement with a This means comprises a cam bar 57 rigidlymounted on the movable frame 3 6 and which is adapted to engage a roller53 which is mounted on a bar 59 slidably mounted on the bracket 55 andyieldingly connected with link 53 by means of spring 63. The bar 5 9 issupported at its right hand end by a lever 3| which is pivotally mountedon the machine framework at 62. The clockwise movement of this lever asviewedin-Fig. lis limited by the stop member 63. It should now beapparent that if the form 33a moves vertically upward the cam 51 willengage the roller 58 which, through the yielding connection of spring,88, will pull upon link 53, moving the bar member 52 toward the rightas, viewed in Fig. 1, so that carr-iage 5| moves towardthe right alsoand carries The frames 36, 34, 34a. and

finger 46 into engagement with the sleeve on the sleeve form 33a.

Means is provided for automatically supplying pressure fluid to thecylinders H and Ila to produce a pressing operation only when a sleeveon the forms 33 and 33a is entered for its entire length between thecoacting pressing members so that it is in registering pressing positionbetween them. To this end the switch 30 (Fig. 1) is mounted on a portionof the bracket 5| and a finger 64 depending from the block 43 normallyholds this switch in open position. In other words, the switch 30 is ofthe self-closing type and when the finger 64 engages it as shown in Fig.1 it holds the switch open. However, due to the extra thickness of theshoulder seam 65 of the shirt, shown in broken lines in Fig. 3, whensaid seam engages the finger 46 while the shirt is moving upwardly theblock 48 is moved vertically along the rods 43 and 53 which carries thefinger =64 out of engagement with the actuator for switch 30 and permitsthis switch to close. If it were not for a safety feature laterdescribed in connection with switch 3|, it will be obvious from a studyof Fig. 5 that the closing of switch 30 would energize the solenoid 21,causing valve 25 to open and permitting a flow of pressure fluid throughconduits 24, 26, 23 and 23a to the cylinders l1 and Ila for causing apressing operation.

The safety feature just mentioned comprises theswitch 3| showndiagrammatically in Fig. 5 and also shown in Fig. 1 as mounted on thebracket 55. One end of bar 59 engages the actuator for switch 3| so asto hold this switch in open position as the parts are shown in Fig. 1.This switch is also of the automatic closing type. It will be noted thatif cam 53 engages roller 58 and moves bar 59 toward the right as seen inFig. l, the end of this bar will disengage the actuator for switch 3|,permitting this switch toclose. This places the circuit of Fig. 5 insuch condition that when switch 30 i closed as described inthepreceding' paragraph, a pressing operation will take place. Thepurpose of this switch 3| is to insure against or positively prevent anyapproach movement of the chests It and Ilia except when the forms 33 and33a are in pressing position and a pressing operation is desired.Otherwise accidental operation of the finger 64 might cause movement ofthe pressing chests at a time when it might endanger an operator orinjure the machinery.

The operation of the apparatus will now be briefly set forth, althoughit should be fairly clear from the above description. With the parts inthe position of Fig.1 the two sleeves of a shirt are dressedrespectively upon the forms 33 and 33a, being drawn down their fulllength on the forms until the cuffs are in position to be held beneaththe clips 66 and 56a respectively. The operator then raises the carriage33-either manually or by power, if such is provided. The cam 51 engagesthe roller 58 and moves carriage 5| toward the right as viewed in Fig.1, moving the finger 46 into engagement with the sleeve on form 33a. Atthe same time this permits switch 3| to close. The finger rides alongthe surface of the sleeve until it is engaged by the thicker shoulderseam at the lower end of the shirt sleeve. Further upward movement ofform 3311 carries the finger 46 upwardly until the finger B4 isdisengaged from or passes beyond switch 30. This permits the latter toclose and completes the energization of solenoid '21 which opens valve25 and supplies pressure fluid to the cylinders I! and Ha. The pistonrods I9 and Na then simultaneously make inward strokes carrying theouter pressing members or chests l6 and mo first into contact with thesleeve covered inner pressing members or forms 33 and 33a whereuponfurther movement of the chests l6 and IBa causes the frames 34 and 34ato pivot about their connections with the frame 36 and carry forms 33and 33a along with them until contact of the sleeves ishad with thestationary pressing chests I 4 and Ma. It will be obvious from a perusalof Fig. 2. that at this time each two outer pressing members or chestspractically completely enclose one of the inner pressing members orforms 33 and 33a so as to completely iron the sleeve in pressingposition. When this operation is completed the operator opensswitch 32,which deenergizes solenoid 2?, permitting valve 25 to close under thebias of its closing spring, which cuts off the supply of pressure fluidand opens the exhaust port 25a, whereupon the cylinder I1 and Ila areevacuated and springs 20 and 28a move the chests I6 and 15a out ofpressing position. The forms 33 and 33a may then be moved downwardly andthe sleeves removed, leaving the apparatus ready for another operation.

It will be understood that means is provided for heating the chests l4and It, but no means a is shown since this is well understood in theart.

It will be understood by those familiar with this art that means may beprovided to enable an operator to work upon the forms 33 and 33a in aconvenient manner in any one of several ways having nothing to do withthe present invention. For instance, the pressing forms 33 and 33a mightbe on a turret mounting so as to rotate into position beneath thepressing chests, after which the pressing operation might take place asabove described. Another form would be to mount the bucks 33 and 33a ona horizontally sliding carriage for movement toward and away from anoperator. Still a third manner would be to arrange for the tilting ofthe bucks 33 and 33a so that the sleeves might be more readily appliedto and removed from the bucks.

As mentioned previously, many of the features of this invention areequally applicable if a single article holding pressing members or formmoves into pressing position alongside a single pressing member orchest, whether such movement be vertical or horizontal.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine of the class described, a pair of pressing membershaving generally parallel pressing surfaces, means whereby relativemovement may be caused between said members in a direction generallyparallel to said pressing surfaces into and out of various pressingposition relations of said members, means for causing relative approachpressing motion of said members when in pressing relation to press anarticle between them, a control member adapted to engage anarticlesupported on one of said pressing members as the pressing membersmove toward pressing relation, said control member being movable by avariation in the conformation of said article, and means for controllingsaid last named means by said movement of said control member.

2. In a machine of the class described, a pair of pressing membershaving generally parallel pressing surfaces, means whereby relativemovement may be caused between said members in a direction generallyparallel to said pressing surfaces into and out ofvarious pressingrelations of said members, means for causing relative approach pressingmotion of said members'when in. pressing relation to press an articlebetween them, a control member movable into engagement with an articlesupported on one of said pressing members as the pressing members movetoward pressing relation, said control member being also movable by avariation in the conformation of said article, and means for controllingsaid last named means responsive to both of 'said movements of saidcontrol member.

3. In combination, a pair of coacting elongated pressing members mountedfor relative approach and receding pressing movement, means whereby anelongated article to be pressed may be advanced endwise to variouspositions between said pressing members in a direction generally normalto th direction of said pressing movement, said last named means beingconstructed and arranged to locate one end of said article withreference to said pressing members when the article lies between saidpressing members, and means responsive to the length of said article forcausing relative approach pressing movement of said members.

4. In combination, a sleeve form, a pair of relatively movable coactingpressing members for pressing a sleeve on said form, means supportingsaid members and said form for relative movement in a direction endwiseof said form, a finger associated with said pressing members and adaptedto engage a sleeve on said form, said finger being movable by engagementwith the shoulder seam of a shirt whose sleeve is dressed on said form,and means responsive to movement of said finger for causing relativeapproach pressing movement of said pressing members.

5. In combination, a sleeve form, a pair of relatively movable coactingpressing members for pressing a sleeve on said form, means supportingsaid members and said form for relative movement in a direction endwiseof said form whereby said form may be advanced to a position betweensaid pressing members, a finger mounted adjacent said pressing membersfor movement toward and from said form when the latter is in pressingposition between said members, means actuated by said relative endwisemovement for moving said finger into engagement with a sleeve on saidform as the latter moves into position between said pressing members,said finger being movable by engagement with an end portion of a sleeveon said form, and means responsive to said last named movement of saidfinger for causing relative approach pressing movement of said pressingmembers.

6. In combination, a sleeve form, a pair of relatively movable coactingpressing members for pressing a sleeve on said form, means supportingsaid members and said form for relative movement in a direction endwiseof said form whereby said form may be advanced to a position betweensaid pressing members, a finger mounted adjacent said pressing membersfor movement toward and from said form when the latter is in pressingposition between said members, means actuated by said relative endwisemovement for moving said finger into engagement with a sleeve on saidform as the latter moves into position between said pressing members,power means for causing relative approach pressing movement of saidpressing members, power supply means for said power means including twocontrol members both of which must be actuated to energize said powermeans, means for actuating one of said control members by said movementof said finger into engagement with a sleeve on said form, said fingerbeing movable by engagement with an end portion of a sleeve on saidform, and means for actuating the other of said control members by saidlast named movement of said finger.

7. In a machine of the class described, a frame, a pair of pressingchests on said frame, one of said chests mounted for movementtoward theother, a pressing form movably mounted on said frame in alinement withthe opening between said chests, said form being mounted for movement ina path toward and from pressing position between said chests, said formalso having a mounting for movement normal to said path, a carriageprovided with a finger adapted for engagement .with a sleeve on saidform, means mounting said carriage for movement normal to said path,means mounting said finger in said carriage for movement parallel tosaid path, means on said form for moving said carriage responsive tomovement of said form along said path, and means responsive to movementof said finger for causing movement of said movable chest. V

8. In a machine of the class described, a pair of pressing membershaving generally parallel pressing surfaces, means whereby variablerelative movement may be caused between said members in a directiongenerally parallel to said pressing surfaces into and out of variouspressing relations of said members selected in accordance withvariations in the form of the work, means for causing relative approachpressing motion of said members when in pressing relation to press anarticle between them, and means for controlling action of said lastnamed means responsive to the form of the particular article lyingbetween said pressing members.

9. In a machine of the class described, cooperating pressing membersmovable toward and from each other for the pressing operation, powermeans for producing such movement thereof, a work supporting membermovable into and out of pressing position between said pressing members,controlling means for causing operation of said power means arranged toengage the Work and actuated by advance thereof into pressing position,and means sensitive to motion of the work supporting member forpreventing operation of said power means unless the said work supportingmember is in pressing position.

10. In a machine of the class described, a pair of pressing membershaving cooperating surfaces of complementaryicontour for pressingarticles therebetween, means whereby relative movement may be producedbetween said members in a direction generally parallel to said surfacesso as to vary the extent of mutual overlap of said surfaces and therebyestablish, by means of said variable mutual overlap, various pressingrelations selected in accordance with variations in the form of thework, means for causing relative approach pressing motion of saidmembers when in desired overlapped relation to press an article betweenthem, and means responsive to physical characteristics of the article tobe pressed for controlling action of said last named means.

FORREST J. COUCH.

